My name is Riley, aspiring rapper/actor straight out of Harlem. I was born in Virginia Beach, but when I was two, my mom moved my sister and me to New York. Growing up my mom and uncle used to listen to Jay-Z, Nas, Tupac, Biggie — anyone you could name in your top 20 of all time I grew up to. Basketball was always my career goal growing up and being in Harlem all people ever talked about was the Knicks, LeBron, Kobe or Carmelo, so those were my role models for the longest period. The story of how I got into rap is funny to me because I had no intention of doing it until my friends Charlie and Geo introduced me to battle rapping. Before battle rapping, I used to only rap for fun, and after battling kids in school, I gained a love for it. When I left Harlem due to one of my relatives dying I stopped rapping for a while and just played basketball.
One year after leaving Harlem I moved back, recorded my first ever freestyle with my big bro Buda Da Future and met good friends like Wyclef, Dave East (who I look at as a big bro and role model), Jazzy Amra, Buda Da Future, and my big bro Rich (who gave me my first internship at his studio so I can earn studio time). The year after that I lost my cousin who was like my big brother and one of my people who gave me feedback on the raps I was doing. Right now in 2017 I’m pushing to be a rapper so he can look down on me and know that this dream is for him.